Pussycat
Pussycat is the most successful UK robot wars competitor to have ever been created. It has won an annihilator, tag-team, allstars and has come runners up in a championship twice (first being when it was Body Hammer) and winning 31 of it's 39 battle it has fought. Pussycat, was armed with a very powerful spinning blade that was said to be capable of demolishing a garage and was cleverly designed so it could land on its feet like a cat. Robot Wars It completed the Gauntlet in convincing style and progressed far enough in the labyrinth to guarantee a place in the arena. Its hammer unfortunately broke before its first battle so the team replaced it with a large spike. Its speed and power allowed it to easily overcome Torque of the Devil and attack Dead Metal in the process. It started well in its heat final using its weight advantage to slam REALI-T into a pyramid but poor driving got it stuck on a grille. It was released controversially by Shunt, and this gave it the opportunity to finish its limping opponent off by pushing it onto the side railings as it had done with Torque of the Devil in its first arena clash. It progressed to the grand final where it was still highly fancied to win, it launched a thrust on Robot the Bruce, but it couldn't compete with Roadblock's purge of the arena, as it defeated Recyclopse and Robot the Bruce and the demise of T.R.A.C.I.E. and Cunning Plan having already happened. Finally with just Bodyhammer and Roadblock left Roadblock closed in getting underneath the cone with its scoop when the match was handed to the judges who unsurprisingly gave the win to Roadblock. Bodyhammer, seeded third, returned for the second series, but this time the hammer was replaced with a strimmer-powered reciprocating spike made from a plugging chisel running on an engine crankshaft (Strangely referred to as a flipper at one point) salvaged from a garden rotavator and 6" circular saw. The robot was not able to repeat its success of the previous series as it got stuck at the start of the Gauntlet and was eliminated, having only travelled 3 metres after getting wedged on the ram rig before being attacked by Sir Killalot.It also entered the Internet Insurrection in the Grudge Match special, where it lost to Griffon after immobilising and getting stuck under Dead Metal. Pussycat's first appearance was in Heat M of the Third Wars, after Team Cold Fusion retired Bodyhammer. In this series, Pussycat was equipped with a diamond-toothed saw, rather than the cutting blade of later series. Pussycat started a very promising run, pitting Hammerhead convincingly in the first round, and was put against the previous year's runner-up, Cassius 2. Cassius 2 started quickly and smashed into Pussycat, knocking it over. Pussycat attacked and bounced over Cassius 2, Cassius 2 then used its long spike, knocking Pussycat over a short distance. Lining Pussycat up with the pit, Cassius reversed strongly, but Pussycat drove out of the way and Cassius fell in the pit itself.The huge shock put Pussycat through to the heat final against Scutter's Revenge. Because the original saw had not been very effective, the team replaced it with a hardened steel blade. Scutter's Revenge pushed Pussycat into the wall, before it was driven over by Pussycat. Pussycat then hit the arena wall and its blade shattered. Scutter's Revenge was then immobilised and attacked by the house robots. Pussycat was declared the winner of the battle, but due to the rules stating that "hardened blades that may shatter are prohibited", Pussycat was disqualified. Pussycat returned in the forth wars seeded 19. Pussycat fought Milly-ann bug and Reptirron, it sliced Reptirron's fuel line to their circular saw, Pussycat was proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Robo-chicken was next to fall victim of Pussycat's rampage. The chicken was torn apart, with the boggle eyes and armour littering the arena.This put Pussycat through to the Heat Final, where it then met the third seed and reigning World and International Champions, Razer, the other seeded machine in the heat. Pussycat disabled Razer's drive which left Razer in forward drive and stuck on the arena wall. Pussycat then proceeded to rip Razer apart which left Ian Lewis from the Razer team extremely frustrated with the situation. The semis saw Pussycat against Thermidor 2, In the battle, Thermidor 2 flipped Pussycat quite a few times at the start of the battle, tossing it around in the air. Thermidor 2 also managed to avoid the invertible Pussycat's blade well to begin with. However, Pussycat recovered just as well and began going on the offensive itself, slicing through the top armour and wheels of Thermidor 2. Pussycat then chased Thermidor 2 at the end of the battle and attacked the rear of the robot, both the armour all over and the wheels themselves of Thermidor 2 were badly sliced up by Pussycat's blade.Pussycat faced another promising unseeded machine, Dominator 2. Pussycat attacked Dominator 2's weakness - its wheels, slicing into them greatly. Dominator 2 then got away from the blade and chased down Pussycat, but it was out steered by Pussycat and its wheels were attacked again. Dominator 2 then attacked with its axe and pushed Pussycat into Matilda's CPZ, however Pussycat quickly got away. Pussycat then rammed into Dominator 2's side and the unseeded robot's body shell started to come off. The Grand final saw Pussycat against Hypno-disc. It took one hit against Hypno-disc's wheels for Pussycat to win. Hypno-disc flywheel was severely damaged by Shunt and Hypno-disc was pitted. Pussycat fought Chaos 2 in the grand final in what is considered one of the best robot wars battles to occur in the forth wars and in robot wars history. Pussycat drove into Chaos 2's side, and the champions used its flipper. It dodged Pussycat and flipped Pussycat onto its side. Chaos 2 tossed Pussycat around the arena, until Pussycat retaliated by driving into the top seed's front and rear, ripping the rear cover off. Chaos 2 seemed to be going slowly at the end, but Pussycat's blade suddenly bent slightly, getting stuck in its own armour. Chaos 2 then pushed it onto its side, and with its blade not working, it remained stuck there for quite some time. Chaos 2 nearly flipped Pussycat out of the arena at the end, but cease was called and the judges decided the winner, declaring Chaos 2 as champion once again, and Pussycat as the runner-up. The team entered the Celebrity Special with Eastenders actor Adam Woodyatt. In the first round, Pussycat faced the relative newcomers to the wars, Iron-Awe, who was being controlled by fellow Eastenders actress Natalie Cassidy. Pussycat had problems in this battle as its blade did not spin throughout the entire first round battle. It drove towards Iron-Awe, who tried to hit Team Cold Fusion's machine with its axe, but missed twice. Pussycat attacked Iron-Awe's front and was hit by the axe, but sustained no damage. After avoiding more axe blows, Pussycat rammed Iron-Awe into the Arena Wall, knocking off Natalie Cassidy's number plate in the process. Iron-Awe sat motionless as Dead Metal tried to slice into it with its saw, before Iron-Awe started moving again. Iron-Awe drove into Matilda whose tusks lifted it up, before Pussycat charged into Iron-Awe's underbelly causing it to tip over onto its side. The Grimm family's machine tried to self-right, but its axe pushed against Pussycat causing Iron-Awe to move over the Flame Pit. Sir Killalot then cut Iron-Awe's axe head off, before picking it up and dropping it in the pit. Cease was called and Pussycat went through to the next round. Natalie Cassidy decided to join the Pussycat team for the rest of the tournament. In the second round, Pussycat faced Sir Chromalot, being driven by Shane Lynch. Pussycat's blade was working this time and it attacked Sir Chromalot, ripping its drills off. Pussycat kept using its blade to cause scratches and dents in Sir Chromalot's shell until it became immobilised over the flame pit. Sir Chromalot was then flipped over by Sir Killalot, who started cutting into its self-righting arms along with Sergeant Bash. Sir Chromalot was thrown by the Floor Flipper and dumped into the Pit. Pussycat advanced to the final, where it faced Vic Reeves and Diotoir (their future Tag Team Terror partner). Pussycat's first onslaught on Diotoir caused fur to wrap around its blade and immobilise it. Pussycat tried to use an Arena flame to burn the fur off, but its blade still wouldn't spin. Pussycat still managed to push Diotoir around, who was beginning to lose mobility. Diotoir was then attacked by the House Robots, thrown by the Floor Flipper and pushed into the Pit, leaving Pussycat to be crowned Champion of the Celebrity Special. Pussycat also competed in the Sumo Basho side tournament held during the series. The team had added spikes to keep the robot upright, but on its first charge, it ran up Shunt's scoop and fell onto its side. The spikes prevented Pussycat from getting back on its wheels and Shunt quickly pushed it off the ring. Pussycat competed in six separate events during Extreme Series 1, more than any other robot. Its first appearance was in a Mayhem qualifier with S.M.I.D.S.Y. and Sumpthing. It won by disabling Sumpthing's wiring and placing S.M.I.D.S.Y into the pit. Pussycat's next appearance was in a Vengeance battle against Razer, who had criticised the Pussycat team for their lack of restraint in their Series 4 battle, when Pussycat had continually attacked Razer after it had broken down. The battle started with Razer chasing down, grabbing and easily piercing Pussycat and carrying it over the flame pit. Pussycat, however, fell off and attacked Razer's side twice, the second of which took out a wheel, rendering Razer immobile. Pussycat activated the pit and continued to attack Razer, just like in Series 4, although it caused less damage this time, Refbot then counted out Razer, soon before Shunt finally pitted the beaten Razer. Pussycat competed in the All-Stars tournament and found itself against the 3rd place finishers Stinger in the first round. The battle started evenly, with both robots trading blows. Eventually, Pussycat struck Stinger's tyre, ripping out some protective foam. Pussycat continued to land attacks on Stinger's tyres, tearing out more foam, but was unable to immobilise Stinger. The second battle was against Tornado. Instantly, Tornado pushed Pussycat into the arena side wall, ripping bits of polycarbonate off. Pussycat was then pushed onto the side grinders, which managed to rip a wheel off. This left Pussycat at a severe disadvantage for the rest of the competition and it was pushed all around the arena and into the CPZs before being pushed onto its side, where it was unable to get back up due to a tyre being dislodged. Unable to move, Pussycat was pushed onto the flame pit. It managed the consolation of forcing Sir Killalot to be set alight, but still lost. Pussycat fought Tornado in the challenge belt where it lost once again. Pussycat had became victorious in the annihilator. Pussycat had a tough time in the first two annihilator battles, luckily it survived and Therminor 2 went out first then X-Terminator. The third round was easier for Pussycat because Hypno-disc was immobilized almost straight away, it was subsequently pitted. The forth round was against Arnold A. Terminegger and Splinter. Pussycat had a scary time when its blade was removed by Arnold but thankfully Splinter was immobile. Pussycat was up against Arnold A. Terminegger in the final where it bucked the scoop of Arnold but equally was caught and whacked a few times by the axe of Arnold A. Terminegger. It went to a judges decision and Pussycat won. Pussycat had also gained success in the Tag-team championships. Pussycat was a substitute for Diotoir's team due to Mega Morg, its former partner being unable to go on. They fought Spawn Again and Comegetorix in round 2. Spawn Again's reliablity was its down fall while Diotoir fought of Comegetorix. The final saw Pussycat and Diotoir against Suicidal Tendencies and The Steel Avenger. Although Suicidal Tendencies was able to crush lightly into Pussycat's armour several times, with only a few blade attacks from Pussycat in retaliation, the judges felt that throughout the whole battle, Diotoir and Pussycat had been the more dominant, this was largely due to Diotoir's aggression over The Steel Avenger, the judges awarded Diotoir and Pussycat victory on a very close judges' decision, declaring Pussycat and Diotoir the new Tag Team Terror champions. In series 5, Pussycat used its destructive capabilities to wear newcomers The Executioner down in the first round, it had a bad start as the Wild Card Warriors managed to grip onto the pyramid shaped robot and hold it in place for a while. However, Pussycat then came back on the offensive, slicing off the weapon tip of the claw of The Executioner, and pushing it into the pit of oblivion. This put Pussycat through to the next round of the heat. Pussycat then went up against the walkerbot Clawed Hopper in the second round. Pussycat caused major damage to the underdog, burying its blade in the side spinning drums and breaking them off with relative ease. The glory of being the first main competition walker to pass the first round wore off as Clawed Hopper fell to pieces at the time of cease. In the Heat Final, it was a major scare for the 2nd seed, as its opponent, newcomers to the main competition Fluffy, ripped off Pussycat's blade and castor within seconds, leaving the Series 4 runners-up with impaired mobility and no weapon. Pussycat was on the ropes and close enough to taste defeat. However, its opponent suddenly broke down. Fluffy was counted out by Refbot and Pussycat narrowly qualified to go through to the Series Semi-Finals for a second time. The semis saw Pussycat against Panic Attack. Pussycat damaged the lifting forks and skirts of Panic Attack but it was still resulted in a judges decision. Pussycat fought Firestorm next. Firestorm was dominate through out the battle, flipping Pussycat about and into house robots. Pussycat lost on a judges decision. This was the final series David Gribble drove the robot before his untimely death. Pussycat didn't compete in series 6 due to David Gribble's car crash, if it had Pussycat would of been the only robot to fight in all series of robot wars. Pussycat and Diotoir both entered Extreme Series 2 after missing Series 6, they entered together in the Tag-Team Terror competition, returning as reigning Tag-Team Terror champions, but they didn't put up much of a defence of their Tag Team Title. They were up against Bulldog Breed and Robochicken in the first round. Pussycat went out against Bulldog Breed and was flipped around the arena into the air a couple of times. Pussycat tried to charge into Bulldog Breed head on to slice the flipper, however no damage was caused to the Bulldog Breed. This was all before Bulldog Breed flipped Pussycat out of the arena. Pussycat redeemed itself slightly in the Iron Maidens competition, with Ann Gribble at the controls. It played a minor role in the first round battle against Chompalot and Spin Doctor. Pussycat started by hooking Chompalot with its blade and dragging it around the arena, before Chompalot got away to continue attacking Spin Doctor. Pussycat then stayed out of the way for a little while until Spin Doctor scuttled away into the centre of the arena. Pussycat then sliced into Spin Doctor side on with its blade. Pussycat was then attacked by Chompalot, who nudged Pussycat onto its side, Chompalot then gripped hold of Pussycat and dragged it around the arena for a few moments. Breaking free, Pussycat darted around the arena, before slamming the limping Spin Doctor repeatedly, up against the arena side wall. With Spin Doctor soon counted out by Refbot, Pussycat went through to the second round, along with Chompalot. At this stage, Pussycat went up against the experienced Kat 3 machine. It was a tentative and slow battle between the two fairly nervous drivers, with Kat 3 only landing a single axe blow and Pussycat flailing around more than attacking. Pussycat lost control early on and forced into the CPZ by Sir Killalot, but it got away and managed to buckle the front wedge of Kat 3 and dislodge parts of the armour, before ripping side panels clean off. With Kat 3's armour hanging off in pieces and relatively little damage done to Pussycat. Pussycat fought Chompalot again in the final. Despite Chompalot skewering its lower beak on the arena floor flipper, it was on top the entire battle, biting around Pussycat's neck and dragging it around the arena. Eventually, Chompalot slammed Pussycat into the pit release and dumped it into the pit, making Chompalot the winner of the Iron Maidens competition. Pussycat fought Twister, Brutus Maximus and Roobarb. While Roobarb dominated Brutus Maximus, Pussycat was too busy dealing with Twister. Twister was bullied and bulldozed by Pussycat which sent Pussycat through to round two. Pussycat met M2, in this battle, M2's tough outer shell prevented Pussycat's weaponry from doing any internal damage to M2, only scratching the body, this cost them severely on the judges' decision. M2 threw Pussycat around the arena several times, almost getting Pussycat out of the arena on a few occasions. Pussycat's blade inflicted only superficial damage when it got the chance. Pussycat survived to the end of the battle but still lost to a judges decision. In the first round of the Allstars, Pussycat was placed up against Behemoth, Dantomkia and King B Powerworks . The team equipped Pussycat with the double blade weapon, hoping to tear off the decidedly weak armour of King B Powerworks. Although Pussycat snapped the right drive chain of King B Powerworks, making the Series 2 Semi-Finalist only be able to spin around in circles, little was seen of the Series 4 runner-up in the battle, as Dantomkia tossed Behemoth out of the arena almost immediately, before stealing King B Powerworks away from Pussycat. King B Powerworks resisted, until Pussycat landed blows on both robots with its twin blades. Dantomkia shrugged off the blow, but King B Powerworks' resistance slackened and Dantomkia tossed King B Powerworks out of the arena as well. Pussycat therefore went through with Dantomkia to the second round. Another battle against Kat 3 followed for Pussycat in the second round, but the design of both robots made it difficult for either robot to damage each other; both weapons were uni-directional and, when side-by-side, neither weapon could make contact. However, Pussycat carved long slashes in Kat 3's armour. Pussycat won on a judes decision. Dantomkia was thought of as the favourite to win, and Pussycat was considered lucky to reach this stage. Dantomkia flipped Pussycat around the arena on numerous occasions until suddenly Pussycat came back on the offensive and landed one particular blow on Dantomkia caused the favourite for the title to become immobilised, and Pussycat - after fending off some vicious attacks from house robots Mr.Psycho and Cassius Chrome - pitted Dantomkia to claim the title of All-Stars Champion, the only robot ever to win the competition besides Razer. Live events Appeared in 2004 live events. It fought Dantomkia and Merlin in one of it's melee's where Pussycat managed to survive the full round whereas Dantomkia was flipped out of the arena by Merlin. Merlin won the melee on a decision. Pussycat fought in Newcastle 2004 where it fought G-Man and won the battle by immobilizing it. It fought in melee against Mute and Big Nipper, however Mute flipped Big Nipper out and won the battle against Pussycat. Pussycat also fought Scorpion, it's unknown who won. It fought in a rumble where a significant moment was when it tore off one of Ripper's side armour pannels. It has since retired from combat and now acts as a display for events. Pussycat was temporarily in the possession of John Findlay of Team Roaming Robots, before recently being returned to Alan Gribble. Alan Gribble made a new version of Matilda in 2011. Alan Gribble passed away in November 2013 after a battle with cancer, but he is always remembered for his sportsmanship at events. Honours *Robot Wars - UK Series 1 Runner-up (1997) (as Body Hammer) * Robot Wars - UK Series 4 Runner-Up (2000) * Robot Wars - UK Series 4, 8th in the Sumo Basho Competition (2000) * Robot Wars - UK Series 4, Celebrity Special Winner - Driven by Adam Woodyatt (2000) * Robot Wars Extreme 1 - All-Stars Tournament Quarter-Finalist (2001) * Robot Wars Extreme 1 - Tag Team Terror Champion with Diotoir (as a substitute for Mega Morg) (2001) * Robot Wars Extreme 1 - Annihilator Winner (2001) * Robot Wars - USA Series, War of Independance Winner (2001) * Robot Wars - UK Series 5 Semi-Finalist (2001) * Robot Wars Extreme 2 - Iron Maidens Runner-Up (2002) * Robot Wars - UK Series 7, All-Stars Champion (2003) Trivia *Pussycat has won all three of the major side competitions in the UK Series; an Annihilator, a Tag Team Terror Pullback pussycat.jpg|The Pullback Minibot pussycat.jpg|The mini bot and an All-Stars Tournament. *Pussycat never had a mechanical faliure. *Pussycat is one of the few robots who are competing today that had a minibot made for it. Others being Wheely Big Cheese , Panic Attack , Tornado , X-Terminator , Dominator 3 and Matilda . Pussycat is also one of the few robots still competing today that had a Pullback made. Others being Panic Attack , Tornado , Matilda , X-Terminator , Dantomkia , Wheely Big Cheese and Stinger . Category:UK Championship Competitors Category:Competitors Category:Runners-up Category:Robots with blades Category:Allstar Category:Heavyweights Category:Robot Wars Competitors Category:Annihilator competitor Category:Annihilator Champion Category:Tag-Team competitors Category:Tag-Team champions Category:Semi-Finalist Category:Grand Finalist Category:Robots that have toys made of them Category:Invertible Robots Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots no longer competing